


The Doctor's Impossible Girls

by kcanwrite



Series: I Bring Life Project [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Episode: s07e14 The Name of the Doctor, F/F, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-21
Updated: 2013-05-21
Packaged: 2018-02-28 18:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2742695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcanwrite/pseuds/kcanwrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clara encounters each of the New!Who female companions in her journey to save the Doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Doctor's Impossible Girls

**Author's Note:**

> This was part of the I Bring Life Project. The prompt was Female Solidarity.

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#### 1

#### 

__

Rose Tyler screamed into the vast emptiness of the TARDIS as the Doctor’s hologram dissipated, “Take me back!” She ran around the console, slamming buttons and pulling levers in vain. “No, no, no…” She heard the familiar sounds of the TARDIS landing sequence and steadied herself on a coral support beam, choking back tears.

"Rose Tyler." Footsteps echoed around her as a petite brunette entered the console room.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?"

The girl shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. What does matter is you, Bad Wolf.”

Rose furrowed her brows. “Those words. I’ve heard them, seen them before.”

"Yes," she answered, smiling cryptically. "It means there’s still hope. Save the Doctor, Rose." She stepped forward and patted the console knowingly.

"But, how? I can’t fly her."

The small woman leaned forward, lips by her ear, hand against her chest, whispering, “You don’t need to.” She pulled away slowly and retreated to the dimly lit corridor.

Rose’s heartbeat thudded in her ears as she watched her exit the room.

She paused in the archway, glancing over her shoulder, “Best not tell the Doctor I was here. He hasn’t exactly met me, yet. Okay?”

Rose was dumbfounded but nodded. “Okay.”

"Now, run along, you clever girl. And remember." She offered one last complex smile before disappearing into the darkness of the corridor.

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#### 2

#### 

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"Martha Jones, you have a story to tell," the girl said, withdrawing her hand and the vial teasingly.

"A story?" Martha crossed her arms and took a step back from the tech nerd.

"Yes."

Martha harrumphed. “I don’t have anything to tell. I wouldn’t trust you as far as I can throw you.”

The brunette leaned forward intimidatingly. “I know your full name, I know where you came from, and I know what you stand to lose. You don’t have a choice but to trust me.”

Martha grumbled, realizing she was right. She’d be lost if it weren’t for the girl’s superior hacking of the Archangel Network. “Tell me who you are. Put us on even ground.”

The woman paused and spun slightly in her desk chair. “Oswin.”

"Is that it? Oswin?” Martha asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion.

She gave a curt nod. “Oswin. Now, about that story—”

"I honestly don’t know what’s left to tell. The Master’s put everyone I care about on national television. Everything else, you seem to have dug up."

"No," Oswin shushed her. "I’m giving you a story to tell.”

Martha raised an eyebrow.

"These vials, the gun," she gestured to the holster on Martha’s hip. "…aren’t real, Martha. That, you tell no one. Continue searching for the last vial—"

"Last vial? I don’t even have the first three!"

Oswin produced a silver briefcase from beneath her computer desk and opened it to reveal two vials nestled in spongy material. She returned the vial she’d teased Martha with earlier to its place inside. There was a space carved out for the gun Martha had procured from UNIT as well as an empty spot for a fourth vial.

"I don’t understand."

"Travel the world telling the story of your mission to kill the Master. But also tell them the truth of the Doctor’s brilliance, of how many times he’s saved us.”

Martha nodded attentively.

"I’ve been studying the Master’s Archangel Network. It’s telepathic capabilities can easily be used against him." She leaned forward. "You must instill in the world a sense of hope. They must have faith in both you and the Doctor. Instruct them all to think of him, of Doctor, at exactly the same moment. It will give him strength.”

Martha paused, considering the validity of the plan. “It will save him?” she asked softly.

"I have every reason to believe it will." Oswin clasped her hands together and leaned back in her computer chair.

With a determined expression, Martha stood. “I imagine the Doctor meant for me to meet you when he sent me looking for this.” She waved the false gun carelessly. “So,” she spoke decidedly, “I suppose you were right all along. I have no choice but to trust you.” With that, she picked up the briefcase and turned to leave. “See you around?”

Oswin smiled mischievously. “Perhaps.”

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#### 3

#### 

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Donna Noble settled back into the lounge chair and adjusted the tie on her spa robe. The filtered sun warmed her skin, relaxing her after a particularly stressful adventure with the Doctor. She’d made a good decision staying behind while he explored Sapphire Waterfall.

"There’s something on your back."

She sat up with a start. “What?” Donna looked around confusedly, but saw no one nearby. She leaned back again, opening a magazine. A small note fell from the pages and settled in her lap. Scrawled in slanted letters were the words Turn left. She tossed it aside, assuming the last reader had left it behind. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You must always turn left, Donna."

She spun around to see a little brunette girl in a worker’s uniform gazing at her sadly. “What in seven hells are you on about?”

She knelt down by the lounge chair so she was face-to-face with the Doctor’s current companion. “Please, Donna, save him. Turn left.”

"Where? Save who?"

"You’ll know when it’s time." The girl stood, picked up a stack of towels, and walked away with a forced calmness.

"Hey! How d’you know my name? I’m talkin’ to you!"

But, the brunette turned the corner without a flinch.

Donna rolled her eyes. “Nutter,” she mumbled to herself, disregarding the encounter immediately.

__

#### 4

#### 

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Rose Tyler stared at the gray wall across from her desk at Torchwood. They’d hit another dead end with the dimension canon today. It was feeling more and more impossible. For every short message they sent successfully across the void, two more ideas failed for transporting an actual agent. Would she ever see the Doctor again?

"Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce the newest member of our team: Clara Oswald."

Rose clapped halfheartedly and mumbled a welcome or two, but didn’t so much as glance away from her desk.

"Thanks, happy to be here."

A chill passed over her body. That voice was all too familiar. She’d never forget that voice. Rose spun in her chair.

Clara was looking right at her, a gaze that said she knew exactly who she was and why she was here. It burned.

"Clara," Rose whispered, testing out the name. She’d never known it before. It was a lovely name, sounded like breaking and being caressed all at once.

"Rose." She was standing by her desk, the welcoming ritual over. "I know what you’re building, and I know how to make it work." Clara slid onto Rose’s desk and let her feet dangle above the ground.

She couldn’t suppress her smile. “You can lead me back to the Doctor?”

Clara looked pained for a moment, but covered it quickly. “There’s something else you must do first.”

Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Find Donna Noble. There’s something on her back. Show her, and tell her to turn left. This will lead you to the Doctor."

She leaned in close. “Who are you?”

Clara pushed a strand of yellow hair behind Rose’s ear and smiled sadly. “I don’t know, yet. Do you?”

She shook her head.

With a sigh, Clara pushed herself off the desk. “Do this for me. For the Doctor.”

"You love him, too?" Rose asked with sullen realization.

Clara shrugged and looked at her through dark lashes.

Rose tried again. “Will I see you again?”

"Even I don’t know that."

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#### 5

#### 

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Clara pulled another failed soufflé out of the oven as she waited for her two babysitting charges to return home from school. She placed it on the kitchen counter and hummed along to the new The Who single playing over the radio.

"Don’t scream." A hand snapped a funny-looking watch around her wrist. The woman stepped into view, a head full of blonde curls. "Do you know who I am?"

"Should I?" She lifted her wrist to her face. "What’s this? Some lame mod fad?"

The blonde woman rolled her eyes and started pressing buttons on the device. “Follow my instructions exactly: Take Melody to the hospital in Leadworth. Tell them her name is Melody Zucker. Hit this button here when it’s done.” She smiled and waved. “See you in a minute.”

"Wait, what—" Suddenly, Clara felt incredibly ill. She fumbled around for support and found herself leaning on a dumpster. Rain poured down on her in torrents. Her sunny kitchen had been replaced with a dreary city street. A blinding gold light filled the darkest corners of the alley then, and Clara realized what she was meant to do. She waited for the glow to dim before creeping out from her hiding place, scooping up the newly-regenerated toddler, and running into a corner store.

She approached the man behind the counter, “Hello, can you tell me where I am?”

He gave her a strange look, eyeing the child suspiciously. “New York City, ma’am.”

"What day is it? What year?"

"Ma’am, are you alright?"

"Argh!" In frustration, Clara turned away and ran in search of a newspaper. January 1970. "I’ve got to get you to Leadworth, Mels. No money and an ocean between us. We’ve got nineteen years to figure it out."

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#### 7

#### 

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Ms. Oswald finished her lunchtime soufflé while she checked her schedule for the remainder of the day. Her next client was a new little girl, seen by three other psychiatrists already. Pond, Amelia Jessica. Her aunt claimed she suffered from delusions far worse than those born of a regular child’s imagination. “Should be interesting,” she mumbled to herself.

When Amelia entered her office later with her aunt Sharon in tow, Ms. Oswald knew immediately she was different. Her bright blue eyes dared her, just dared her to step up to the challenge.

"Hello, Amelia. I’m Ms. Oswald. Would you like to draw me a picture?" she offered her paper and a box of crayons.

The red-headed girl crossed her arms. “No.”

"I’m sorry, she knows much better. Amelia show Ms. Oswald your good manners. No, thank you,” Sharon corrected.

Amelia pretended not to hear, and Ms. Oswald gave Sharon a tight smile before glancing at her notes.

"Tell me about this doctor of yours. He sounds fascinating," she tried.

"He does not. You’re just saying that, so you can tell me he’s not real."

Smart, this one.

Ms. Oswald leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “Why would I say he’s not real?”

Amelia looked at her like she was stupid. “Uh, that’s your job!”

"No, it’s my job to listen, but I can’t listen if you don’t talk."

"What if you don’t like what I’m saying?"

She shrugged and spoke flippantly, “Sucks for me.”

It was silent for a moment while Amelia considered the situation.

Sharon shattered the moment, “Are you sure about this? I feel as if you’re encouraging her. You know, the second psychiatrist we saw said we shouldn’t do that.”

"And that psychiatrist didn’t work out, did he?"

"I bit him," Amelia chimed in.

"Why don’t you wait for us in the lobby?" she offered Sharon.

The woman had the gall to look offended but stood nevertheless, straightened her dress, and left the office.

"Now," Ms. Oswald said eagerly, turning to Amelia, "tell me about the Doctor."


End file.
